Respiration monitoring is useful in diagnosing and managing pathological conditions. Respiratory rates can be measured and respiratory effort can be observed during clinical office visits but potentially important changes that occur outside of the clinical setting cannot be observed. Heart failure patients can experience dyspnea (labored breathing) upon exertion. As heart failure worsens, dyspnea can occur at relatively low levels of exertion, at rest and during certain postures. Heart failure patients can also experience disrupted breathing patterns such as Cheyne-Stokes breathing and sleep apnea. Episodes of disrupted breathing patterns are not easily captured during clinical office visits. Ambulatory monitoring of respiration is desirable for capturing useful diagnostic data and tracking a patient's disease state. Implantable devices used for chronic monitoring of patients are generally minimized in size to avoid patient discomfort. It is desirable to include respiration monitoring capabilities in an implantable monitoring device without substantially adding to the overall size and complexity of the device.